Bioactive macromolecules such as proteins, nucleic acids, and functional enzymes have been broadly utilized in various aspects of biomedical and industrial applications. For example, nucleic acids have been used as genetic templates for polymerase chain reactions while proteins have been used in detergent mixtures to enhance digestive cleaning efficiency of the detergent.
In the detergent industry, proteins may be used as detergent additives to clean stains having a biological component. Biological stains may be present in automotive applications such as both interior and exterior surfaces of the automobile. Examples of automotive surfaces include: coatings, paints, and seat fabrics that may be contaminated when the surfaces are under prolonged exposure to bird dropping, insect debris, resins of conifer, microbes, gums, etc. Certain stains such as insect-originated stains are hard to remove with ordinary brush-free car-wash. Interior surfaces and coatings may also be easily stained with oil, protein, sugar and other ingredients in foods and beverages. Biological stains such as bird droppings, plant resins and insect body debris, when accumulated, may damage the paint surface of vehicles. Additionally, damages such as fissures or swelling associated with prolonged stain exposure may not be recoverable by heat treatment. There is therefore a need in the art for the timely removal of such stains.
In response, self-cleaning technology has been developed to reduce surface stain accumulations and make brush-free car-wash a reasonable alternative. However, traditional self-cleaning technology, known as either hydrophobic or hydrophilic coating, is only effective for the removal of inorganic dirt, but not for that of biological stains, which consist of various types of organic polymers and are often able to diffuse extensively into the sub-surface of coatings.
Proteins such as digestive proteins or enzymes are known to catalyze and decompose organic molecules. Digestive proteins may be both active and resilient in organic media, allowing various substrates to be utilized. If the substrate is insoluble or only slightly soluble in water, the maximum activity of the digestive proteins cannot be achieved in an aqueous solution. The study of digestive protein activity in non-aqueous media in the prior art is motivated principally by the need to extend the applicability of digestive proteins to the catalysis of reactions whose reactants and/or products are not water-soluble.
Although proteins such as digestive proteins or enzymes are capable of decomposing organic stain molecules they are generally not thermally stable at elevated temperatures and under dry or non aqueous conditions. There is therefore a need in the art for a thermally stable bioactive composition that may be used in elevated temperature and dry conditions. There is also a need in the art for a thermally stable bioactive composition and process for producing the bioactive composition that may be stable for various environmental stresses including elevated temperature and acidity.